The NFL, in cooperation with government authorities, announced on Thursday that it had seized a record $13.6 million worth of counterfeit NFL merchandise this season in a nationwide enforcement effort called "Operation Red Zone."

That total included a bust in Warwick, R.I., in September, when the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations, with an assist from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Postal Inspection Service, seized 226 boxes containing 4,016 counterfeit jerseys. It also includes 160,000 Super Bowl-related pieces of memorabilia discovered in recent days.

"Organized criminals are preying on that excitement, ripping consumers off with counterfeit merchandise and stealing from the American businesses who have worked hard to build a trusted brand," said ICE director John Morton, in a statement. "The sale of counterfeit jerseys and other sports items undermines the legitimate economy, takes jobs away from Americans, and fuels crime overseas. No good comes of counterfeiting American products -- whether NFL jerseys, airbags, or pharmaceuticals -- and we must go after the criminals behind it."

All this is just the tip of the iceberg, as an "Outside The Lines" investigation that will air this Sunday, has discovered. In the past couple years, stopping counterfeiting has gotten more challenging as more websites, mostly coming out of China, have gone directly to the consumer. It is only a crime to sell counterfeit gear, not to buy it.

Counterfeiters have also done more business as the price of jerseys has risen. A knockoff of a stitched official Nike jersey that retails for $135 sells on these sites for as little as $20 and often includes free air shipping from Asia that allows a consumer to have the package in eight to 10 days. Nike is in the first year of supplying jerseys to the NFL. Counterfeiters also offer variations of products that licensees don't, such as camouflage jerseys with team logos on them.

"If you were to say who is our largest competitor, I would say counterfeit," Jamie Davis, president of Fanatics, one of the largest online sports retailers, told "Outside the Lines." The company, which runs many official online stores, including the NFL site, projects it will do $1 billion in business this year.

Davis says that, while counterfeiters often use the same pictures to mislead consumers, what fans get when it arrives on their doorstep is a different story, ranging from misspellings to loose stitches to colors that fade with a single wash. Davis showed ESPN a Victor Cruz jersey that was ordered from China that had a Super Bowl XLV patch on it. Cruz and the New York Giants played in Super Bowl XLVI. When these mistakes occur, Davis says there's often no recourse, as many counterfeit businesses don't have any customer service.

Catching counterfeiters has proven to be a near impossible task. Although the NFL told ESPN it shut down an astounding 4,200 websites this season, it didn't completely shut down all those businesses.

"It's a big game of Whack-A-Mole, where we try to go after counterfeiters and they pop up somewhere else," said Anastasia Danias, the NFL's vice president of legal affairs.

The new Jerseys are cheap crap. I wouldn't put one on my worst enemy's dog. They sure as hell aint worth 100 bucks. The older ones are superior.

__________________"Why attack a man for his race or religion when there are so many other PERFECTLY good reasons?" :Dreademiah 2:16 Dread-Head. Texan from DAY ONE & PROUD Honorary Blue Crew member..."Damn it Bill!"

"Organized criminals are preying on that excitement, ripping consumers off with counterfeit merchandise and stealing from the American businesses who have worked hard to build a trusted brand," said ICE director John Morton, in a statement. "The sale of counterfeit jerseys and other sports items undermines the legitimate economy, takes jobs away from Americans, and fuels crime overseas. No good comes of counterfeiting American products -- whether NFL jerseys, airbags, or pharmaceuticals -- and we must go after the criminals behind it."

Oh, ok. Gee all I need is another T-Shirt, but can't buy tickets and $250 jerseys, too. I thought jerseys were made in Asia.

So...instead of buying the CHEAP imitation jersey which is made in a foreign country for $20, we should buy the EXPENSIVE "real" jersey which is also made in a foreign country (probably in the same factory) for a couple of hundred bucks to ...save "American" jobs? So buying a Chinese made jersey from a Chinese guy who made it cost "American jobs" WHEREAS buying the SAME Chinese made Jersey (for considerably more money) from an AMERICAN corporation is okay? Wow...if ...if ONLY those American corporations could do something like...maybe manufacturing that Jersey (which they're selling for hundreds of bucks) IN AMERICA!

__________________"Why attack a man for his race or religion when there are so many other PERFECTLY good reasons?" :Dreademiah 2:16 Dread-Head. Texan from DAY ONE & PROUD Honorary Blue Crew member..."Damn it Bill!"

So...instead of buying the CHEAP imitation jersey which is made in a foreign country for $20, we should buy the EXPENSIVE "real" jersey which is also made in a foreign country (probably in the same factory) for a couple of hundred bucks to ...save "American jobs? So buying a Chinese made jersey from a Chinese guy who made it cost "American jobs" WHEREAS buying the SAME Chinese made (for considerably more money) from an AMERICAN corporation. Wow...if ...if ONLY those American corporations could do something like...maybe manufacturing that Jersey (which they're selling for hundreds of bucks) IN AMERICA!

I enjoy most the way they spin these reports trying to represent Americans as victims who don't know that these jerseys are not authentic. We're just a bunch of unwitting suckers who didn't intentionally go out and try to find a cheap knock-off jersey I guess in their eyes.

Me, I went out of my way to buy fakes. Everyone I know who has them did the same. You look at the price versus what you get and it was a no-brainer. The low-end real jerseys are garbage compared to the fake high-end jerseys and the real ones still cost more.

My fake jerseys look as good or better (granted at 4-5 feet away) than some of the real ones I've seen on coworkers. Plus there's an added "feature" that I think makes the fakes better. They're thinner. Now in the colder climates that might not be a good thing but here for most of the first half of the season that's actually awesome. I've got two of the real ones that I bought used and they're both too thick and hot as hell in the first month of the football season.

I enjoy most the way they spin these reports trying to represent Americans as victims who don't know that these jerseys are not authentic. We're just a bunch of unwitting suckers who didn't intentionally go out and try to find a cheap knock-off jersey I guess in their eyes.

Me, I went out of my way to buy fakes. Everyone I know who has them did the same. You look at the price versus what you get and it was a no-brainer. The low-end real jerseys are garbage compared to the fake high-end jerseys and the real ones still cost more.

My fake jerseys look as good or better (granted at 4-5 feet away) than some of the real ones I've seen on coworkers. Plus there's an added "feature" that I think makes the fakes better. They're thinner. Now in the colder climates that might not be a good thing but here for most of the first half of the season that's actually awesome. I've got two of the real ones that I bought used and they're both too thick and hot as hell in the first month of the football season.

Some of those fake jerseys are real. I was browsing in the pro shop in Dallas season before last (Reebok) and was wearing my fake jersey. Out of curiousity, I went to the authentic section, looked at the authentic and compared it with the one I was wearing. The only difference I could detect was $250 instead of $40.

The first time I heard on the news there was concern that consumers were getting ripped off by buying counterfeit merchandise, I couldn't believe the news broadcaster could say that with a straight face.

Considering the 'fake' jerseys are so close in appearance to the authentic ones that it's often tough to tell the difference and people are still making money off of the 'fake' ones, it makes you realize how greedy the NFL is in marking up the prices.

When Dutch was helping folks with jersey orders last year, I bought two for my kid. I compared them to the authentic custom jersey I bought on sale at the NFL Shop, and there was very little difference between two. Truly the only difference that I could spot was the 'fake' ones had a lot of loose threads that needed to be cut. But beyond that, they are great jerseys.

If we ever see orders like that again, I'm buying me a couple, as well. I have absolutely no compassion for the NFL's greed.

__________________"Football is only a diversion." ~ Houston Texans, Inc.

LOL, that is a down right hilarious. Should say the NFL is trying to rip off consumers with outrageous prices. I say "trying" because I don't see many buying them and for good reason.

The best way for the NFL to fight counterfeits is to come way down on their prices.

If the NFL were selling authentics at $70 (which they would still make a lot of money on) I would pay the $70 over the $20 for a fake because I know exactly what I am getting. With a fake it's always a gamble.

My biggest complaint about the fakes (especially the Texans) are the numbers are rarely cut right. That is what makes them easy to spot for me. My fake Mario jersey has correct cut numbers which is rare in the ones I have seen however I can't wear it now because it's Mario.

That takes me back to the real jerseys. If I would have spent $250 for a real Mario jersey I would not be a happy camper. With players jumping around so much I would never spend $250 for a jersey. Actually I would never spend $250 for a jersey period. At that price you would think they are made out of some rare animal skin.

I think most of America agrees with me because at all of the games I see on TV, etc I think it's safe to say the majority of fans are wearing fakes. Most all jerseys I see are the Asian fakes or the old replica Reebok jerseys.

That takes me back to the real jerseys. If I would have spent $250 for a real Mario jersey I would not be a happy camper. With players jumping around so much I would never spend $250 for a jersey. Actually I would never spend $250 for a jersey period. At that price you would think they are made out of some rare animal skin.

That's why 1) you wait until the big off-season sale when NFL.com offers them for around $150 (still a lot, of course), and 2) you get it custom with your own name and number, because you know you will still be you and a Texans fan 20 years from now (assuming they don't move to L.A.).

The only player I would consider right now is Andre Johnson. Dude is THE Houston Texan. I've like to have an Earl, but not at the cost of wearing baby blue and giving Buck Fud a penny (even though I know he benefits from any NFL merchandise purchase I make...go figure).

__________________"Football is only a diversion." ~ Houston Texans, Inc.

If those jerseys were only $50 then chances are they are fake too unless you were getting them at the pro shop or academy.

Not necessarily. I have two of the real ones that I bought on ebay used. One was a Boselli and the other a Carr. I bought them after both players had left the team and paid very little for them. Some people just don' think it through and want to be rid of their jerseys once the player is gone.

He could have snapped them up like that. I used to watch ebay constantly for them but eventually I just got tired of it and bought some fakes. It's a football jersey with a players name/number on it who might not even be here in a year's time. My fakes cost me $23 each. That's all they're worth and all I'd pay for them.

The real ones are put together much better though. That's the biggest difference I noticed.

If those jerseys were only $50 then chances are they are fake too unless you were getting them at the pro shop or academy.

Nope, eBay. They're all brand-new authentic on-field jerseys. The white 8 was a Carr jersey I ripped the letters off of. The DSB 23 is Reebok (bought last season).The Battle Red 80 is Battle Red not Battle Pink-ish, also bought last season. The numbers are large but not puffy, shiny, and squished together. The sleeves have no elastic because this is a custom feature players request. The embroidery has no runs. Logos and fonts are crisp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Double Barrel

Are the numbers sewn on or ironed on?

I was specifically talking about the sewn numbers.

Sewn. I could lay it down next to the best knock-off and show you the differences. It's almost an obssession. Especially for something I wear maybe 4 times a year.

I ordered fakes in red, blue and white. The red has the wrong color Nike logos (blue) and the blue has the wrong 10th anniversary patch. Other than that they look close enough that it's hard to complain for $100 less. Way better than the cheap iron on crap.